Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the simpleminded Muriel Strokes in "The Sins of the Children" (1930). Born Jane Wood, she was raised in a prominent theatrical, the eldest daughter of director Sam Wood and older sister of character actress K.T. Stevens. Upon completing her formal education at the Hollywood School for Girls, she worked in summer stock for a few years and in 1930 began a career in films per the internal connections of her father's affiliation with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. From there, she would go on to enjoy a successful career in the film industry appearing in over 50 features. Often typecast as wives, mothers, old maids, secretaries, librarians, doctors, nurses, housekeepers, curmudgeons, clergywomen, landladies, neighbors, retail clerks, businesswomen, mediums, society matrons, educators, and matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders" (1953), "Playgirl" (1954), "A Life at Stake" (1955), "The Ten Commandments" (1965), "Designing Woman" (1957), "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), and "Cimarron" (1960). During the advent of television, she appeared in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Medic," "The Whistler," "Studio 57," "I Led 3 Lives," "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon," "Lux Radio Theatre," "26 Men," "Dragnet," "Tombstone Territory," "Death Valley Days," "Markham," "The Red Skelton Hour," "Alcoa Theatre," "The Rifleman," "Bachelor Father," "The Betty Hutton Show," "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," "The Twilight Zone," "Cain's Hundred," "Checkmate," "It's a Mad World," "The Ann Sothern Show," "Sam Benedict," and "The Fugitive". In addition, she also appeared in on the stage in such productions as "Blithe Spirit," "Dinner at Eight," "Our Betters," "All This and Heaven Too," "To Each His Own," "The Mousetrap," "You Can't Take It With You," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Glass Menagerie," and "Lend An Ear". During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, had been an active member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, was a chairwoman for her local charters of the American Red Cross and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, and she was married to fellow character actors Joe Sawyer from 1930 to 1933 and John Hiestand from 1936 to 1952 (both unions ended in divorce and she produced one daughter from her second marriage). In 1967, she retired from acting and spent the final years of her life living comfortably in the suburbs being a generous benefactor for several state parks, schools, and libraries, and devoting time to religious causes, until her death from the complications of advanced age.